Eschalon: Book II - Now Available for Windows
 

The highly-anticipated Eschalon: Book II has been released for Windows, with the disc version including Mac and Linux versions due in a couple of weeks. Grab the demo here and buy the game here. The official PR:
Thanks to everyone who wrote in - the announcement came just after I had logged off for the day.
More information.

I bought the dvd version….comes witha cloth map! man I miss those:)

I think it comes with an high res digital map, not a cloth map.

Yeah I think I made a mistake in reading that…oh well….great game playing it now…actually I think I have put in over 100 hours in this game total so far.

Bought the game and DVD, love this developer. Wish there were more like this….

Man a cloth map would be sweet, but too expensive to make for a small studio like this.

Yep, just installed the download while I await delivery of the DvD!!

Playing the demo right now, it is a blast.

The world actually seems big and worth exploring, it makes me wish more rpg games were done in 2D because you can make the world feel much more extensive than the rpgs done in 3D. I also like the overhead viewpoint too in these games.

I will definitely buy this when it comes to steam, impulse or gamersgate

There has to be companies that print on cloth, right? Maybe take that high quality picture and order a cloth map separately?

If someone really feels like it I found a simple guide for printing on cloth with an inkjet printer: http://www.instructables.com/id/Inkj…ing-on-Fabric/

Just bought it, no regrets so far. It looks beautiful. it got however some grammar faults.

Who cares? ;)
Can't wait to get it.

Why not directly from Basilisk (see link in Dhruin's post)?
I am downloading it now…

Because I can re-download it easily from those sources. I like to have my games from the same sources. Plus I want to finish Book I first, so might as well wait a bit.

Well, just keep in mind who gets your money when you do this. I understand it's more convenient for you to go through Steam, but they're taking 30-40%* out of Basilisk's pocket. The file you get from Basilisk can be backed up to something as primitive as a CD and in fact I think you can re-download it from them later if you need to.

*I am not privy to the company's agreement, this is an estimate based on what I've read regarding other small developers using DD services.

I'll put in a good word for the download—very fast(>10 minutes, closer to 5) efficient and absolutely no problems with anything, and I'm not much of a download person. It's very convenient that you can order the hard copy and still play the game instantly while waiting for it.

Oh, and thanks to Basilisk for the female avatars. The game is now perfect. ;)

How similar is this to Book 1? I played that for a while but it just didn't hook me. I have hopes the second game will be more compelling.

Any other thoughts/reviews?

I am aware of that, but comfort comes first (sadly). I like buying stuff straight from the source, but I tend to forget about games I don't see now and then. If I have it on steam, or something like that, I will remember it since every time I open it the name of the game will be there.

As a small comfort to myself I could always hope my purchase on a DD service pushes the game a bit higher on their sales lists, possibly increasing sales in the long term… (yeah, I know that is far fetched)

edit: It is already available at impulse at least.

I've had a press preview for a week, though I haven't had much time with it. So, take these comments with a grain of salt.

On the surface: very similar. A higher resolution, female avatars, some interface tweaks. More importantly, a bigger world, a stance choice in combat (choose a stronger attack, more precise attack, parry or normal) - makes a small difference but combat is still lacking, I think. I've seen a couple of quests that have different outcomes - that's the most promising thing and I hope that develops further.

The basic atmosphere and approach is essentially the same at this stage. I think fans will be in heaven and others, well, I'm not sure. Personally, I do very much enjoy the exploration.

I played the demo for 45 mins. Seems fun so far. Seems like a nice graphical upgrade from Book I. I've only played the demo on both games so far.

Errr…. looks at the graphics … ummm… Looks closer at the screenshot's text and "Screen captured and saved to the game's installation directory" …. uhhh…. this is looking mighty 1990's to me. Even the save game icon is a 3.5" floppy.

I wish this forum had comments ratings <.<

well….um…no kidding….you do know that it is an old school rpg game right?

I only played the book 1 demo and I didn't find it interesting enough to buy it.

But this sequel is much more interesting, I have played for a few hours now and the graphics, the monsters, the quests, just about everything is improved and polished compared to the first one.

The story line is one that actually makes me want to see what happens next, and feels well designed with excellent pacing.

I think this will be a winner for old school rpg fans. But there are some things that are not as well done. For instance, the characters are still too small and tiny on the screen, and the food and water option is one that seems more annoying than immersing. I am going to turn the food and water requirements off myself, at least they provided this option.

Also, when looking through people's items, I found out that if you are caught they stay mad and don't ever seem to go out of attack mode, so you can no longer converse with them after that. I think it should not be so drastic and eventually they should calm down and "forget" about the incident and allow the character to talk with you once again. Otherwise maybe you miss out on quest options if you are unlucky.

Finally, the manual is lacking, it is hard to figure out what the stats actually do in concrete terms in relation to skills. Furthermore, there just seem to be a lot of stuff about the game that you need to know, and just isn't explained at the start of the game such as how high the level you can get to, how many skills should you pick, and so on.

Its a game that badly needs a thorough guide to it in other words.